


Mom's Made Fullmetal 2019: A Collection of One-Shots

by RealityBreakGirl



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, F/M, Family Fluff, Gen, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, Mama Hawk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-02
Updated: 2019-09-08
Packaged: 2020-10-05 15:40:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 7
Words: 16,827
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20491208
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RealityBreakGirl/pseuds/RealityBreakGirl
Summary: Some mothers are natural made. Other mothers are created through circumstance. But all care for their children. A series of one shots based around the theme of motherhood. Featuring stories involving: Riza Hawkeye, Gracia Hughes, Riza's Mother, and Havoc's mother. Also involving: Edward Elric, Alphonse Elric, Jean Havoc, Roy Mustang, fanchildren and other minor mentions.





	1. Fear/Hope/Is This Real

**Moms Made Fullmetal Week, 2019**  
**Day 1:** Fear/Hope/Is this real?  
**Summary:** Lots of things inspire fear, hope, and astoundment. But nothing has ever done it more to Riza Hawkeye then the two boys she’s adopted in her heart and watching them on The Promised Day.

* * *

This day had been a day full of more than she had ever imagined. Yes, Riza had known that taking down the corrupt generals and stopping The Promised Day was going to be difficult. She thought she had been prepared. Focused, ready, stoic. It had gone off perfectly at first. Going just the way they wanted, even better than they had expected.

Then they had discovered the white monsters and that had certainly changed things. But even those were quickly dealt with thanks to the Colonel, and she had taken that moment of fear—for all soldiers felt fear. It was a motivator if nothing else—and sat it to the side once the situation had been dealt with. It was time to move onto the next task.

Too bad Envy had come along and practically destroyed the Colonel. Oh, yes, the Colonel had destroyed the homunculus too, but the shapeshifter had almost taken Roy Mustang—the person of Roy Mustang, who Roy Mustang was--with him, and Riza’s fear had been very real at that time. She had thought that nothing else could match her fear at that moment—fear that had caused even her steady hands to shake.

How wrong she had been.

Her neck had been sliced open and she had nearly had to watch the man she loved either commit the ultimate sin or watch her die, except for Mei’s welcome interference. Then she had watched him being taken away from her, watched him disappear, found him again, albeit blind, and joined a fight even barely able to stand herself as they faced down a god-like individual (as those were the only words she could think of to describe him).

And still it wasn’t the greatest fear she had faced that day.

No, that had been when she had watched Edward disappear before her eyes.

Later she would question why no one stopped him. Why no one had decided to step in and say no at that moment, as they watched him scratch out a circle to get his brother back. She questioned why she didn’t. She was no alchemist, but she had been around them all her life. She knew what that was. She knew what he was drawing.

And yet she did nothing.

Perhaps it was because his own father was there. Perhaps it was because she had come to trust the young boy. Perhaps because it was because she was afraid of what he would say or do if she did. Perhaps it was because she felt it wasn’t her place, even though she had felt these maternal feelings for both boys for years. She had known them since they were twelve and eleven, respectively. She had watched them grow, listened to them, advised them, even held them at times. She knew she could never replace their mother, and she would never presume to do so, but she had come to care for them as if they were her own children. She never said it out loud, but it was true nonetheless.

She had watched one of her sons give his life in the this fight today—give his soul. She was afraid she was about to lose the other too.

As she watched Edward proclaim that this was going to be his last transmutation and clap his hands together fear clawed at her throat more then had happened at any other time during the day. This fear was bigger than watching Mustang loose his sanity, than nearly dying, than all the combat she had ever seen. It crawled into her throat and for a moment she swayed, and she knew it wasn’t from the blood loss, but the fear.

Edward had disappeared.

She wanted to call out his name, to move forward towards where he was, to demand he come back, but her fear was so great that she couldn’t. It froze her in place. He was gone. He wouldn’t come back. She had lost both of her boys in one day. She had nearly died, the man she loved was blind, and she had lost both her boys. The fear of that being true drove her to her hands and knees, and she heard Major Armstrong behind her start, moving towards her. She could hear Roy’s voice asking if she was alright. Both sounded muted, and she wasn’t sure if it was because of her perception or because of the situation, but it didn’t matter. Fear was overriding everything else as she waited for Edward to return and prayed (although after today, she honestly had no idea who to) for his safe return.

She was just giving up the last of her hope when light flared, and her head snapped up, ignoring the swimming that motion put her head into. She ignored the strong hand of the Major at her back and the hand of her Colonel on her shoulder. Something was happening at the center of the circle Edward had made, and something no one else had done. It hadn’t been touched or activated by anyone and hope flared in her surged up and she clung to it. The light was bright, as all alchemy lights tended to be, but she didn’t look away, hope filling her as she saw something forming from seemingly nothing in the middle of the circle—Edward, bruised, beaten, but smiling, holding a thin figure with long matching hair that wasn’t conscious. She knew who it was, just because of the way Edward was smiling. It was Alphonse. It had to be.

It had to be, and she wasn’t going to accept anything else for an answer. Could he have really done it? Had Edward actually found a way to restore his brother without taking a single life? Was this real? Her hope flared up, nearly overtaking her, and she forced herself to go upright.

“Lieutenant! What’s going on!”

Mustang’s voice broke through to her, finally, and she laughed.

“He did it!” she said. “Ed did it! He brought Alphonse back—His body and his soul! It’s all restored!”

Mustang’s hand was still on her shoulder, and she reached for it, pulling him closer, and then pulling him along with her as she forced her way through the crowd to the two boys, smiling widely, something almost no one had ever seen from the stoic Lieutenant. But considering what had just happened, no one seemed to think it was odd. She walked right up to the boys, pulling Mustang along behind her. Edward looking up at their approach. He was as he was when he left, injuries and all, but Alphonse did not look like a suit of armor, obviously. In fact, he had nothing on, no clothes to cover him.

“Colonel, give me your coat,” she demanded of him.

He did it without question, and on shaking legs she took it and moved closer to the boys, spreading it out over Alphonse, covering him and hopefully keeping his painfully thin body warm.

“Lieutenant,” Edward said. “I…”

Riza shook her head, reaching out to the both of them, smoothing their hair back, first Ed, then Al. “I’m so proud of you,” she said, and her hand was shaking as she spoke. “I’m so proud of you. You did it, Edward. You got his body back. You accomplished your mission. I’m so proud of you.”

Edward was blushing slightly, looking at a loss for words, and his face blurred before her eyes. Was she crying? Well, she wouldn’t be surprised if she was. Her hope for these two boys to finally, finally, be able to carry on a normal life was restored, and it was a day to be emotional. How could this be real? How could all of this be real? It was astounding and she was filled with joy.

“Lieutenant?”

Something in his voice sounded off, and she looked to see if maybe it was Alphonse, if maybe he had awoken and his voice sounded different out of the armor. But he was still lying still and unconscious.

And then—she wasn’t sure—but there seemed to be alarm on his face, and she felt a little guilty because she hadn’t meant to upset him, but her brain was stuck in a loop of “Is this real?” and “I’m so proud.” But something was different, and she remembered thinking “Is this real? Do I have my two boys back, safe and whole?” before, for some reason, it was hard to hold onto thoughts and they all slipped away. She thought she heard alarmed voices, but she wasn’t sure. All she knew was that everything was starting to seem like a dream, and she was sure she asked at least one person “Is this real?”

She remembered waking long enough to talk to Rebecca, although she didn’t remember what the conversation was, and to ask someone about Alphonse and Edward before she faded out again. There were small bits of conversation like that, ones that she couldn’t be sure later were real or not, before she finally woke with her brain settled. Most of them seemed to be centered on checking in on her two boys, but she was never completely sure if she heard that correct answers or not.

However, now she woke completely, her mind caught up with her body. She blinked for a moment, taking in her surroundings. She was in a bed, bandages tight around her neck, and IV with blood in it going into her arm. The room was dark, with only the moonlight coming through the window and the soft light creeping in around the doorframe where she could also hear soft footsteps and conversations. She went to look around, but stopped with a soft gasp as the motion of turning pulled at her neck. Almost immediately there was movement from across the room, and a figure got up, walking over towards her. It took her a moment to recognize him in the dark, but she gave Edward a dim, tired smile in the dark.

“Is this real?” she asked him, her own voice soft, tired. “Did—did it really happen? Did you bring Al’s body back?”

“Don’t talk too much, Lieutenant. The doctors are concerned about your wounds breaking open again.” He said. “You scared us when you passed out earlier. When I learned what happened, I don’t know how you were even staying on your feet.”

“Stubbornness,” she said with a wry smile, and Edward laughed in response.

Still, he looked down at her and answered her question. “Yeah, it’s real, Lieutenant. Al woke up not long after you and the Colonel were spirited away to the medical tents. He’s himself alright. Body and soul.” Edward was grinning at her. “You have no idea how happy I am to have him back.”

She reached for his hand, and he obliged her, willingly. She squeezed it. “I was so scared that I’d lost both of you, Edward, when you disappeared into that transmutation circle. The thought of losing one of you was hard enough, but both…”

His eyes looked a little troubled, and he started to hush her again. “Lieutenant, you really shouldn’t be—“

“Let me finish, please,” she said. “It’s important.” He was quiet, and she continued. “Through everything else that we had been through today,” was it even still the same day? Well, he’d know what she meant. “I was more afraid when you disappeared then through all of the rest of it.” She squeezed his hand, and he squeezed back. “And then, when you reappeared with another body, I hoped so badly for you that it had worked.” She gave him another tired smile. “All I wondered was if it was real, while knowing I was so proud of you. And I am. I always will be.”

There was something in the back of Ed’s eyes, an emotion that Riza was too tired to try to name, to worn to find the words for, although it was soft, and she knew that there was love in it. He smiled softly at her, and reached out, smoothing her hair down much as she had done to him earlier, their positions reversed. His hand squeezed hers. “Lieu—Hawkeye. That… that means a lot to me. I know it will to Al too, when he wakes up. Believe it or not, we have wanted to do you proud over these years. You and the Colonel both. Thank you for saying it.”

She smiled at him, and opened her mouth to say more, although she felt a twinge in her neck and winced. Edward noticed, of course, and shook his head, pulling up a chair to her bedside. “Al’s right over there,” he said nodding in the direction he had come from, “And the Colonel is in here too,” he gestured back behind him, where a curtain was drawn. The rooms are pretty full right now, so this is going to have to work. But listen, you don’t say anything else, okay? Just rest.” He still had her hand. “I’ll watch over you while you sleep. I can’t sleep anyway—my brain’s on overload. I promise I’ll go to bed the moment I feel tired, alright? Or if there’s any pain or anything. I’m find, alright? I just need to know that you’re okay too. So you just rest now.”

He was lying to her, to some extent. She could see how tired he was and how much his body, at least, needed rest. But she also knew alchemists. If their brains were running and wouldn’t stop, then they weren’t going to sleep, no matter their physical condition. Besides, she understood the need to make sure that someone you cared about was okay. She was doing that now, with Edward, and as soon as she could, she would be making sure that Alphonse was alright too.

And so, with one last smile at him, she closed her eyes, drifting back into sleep. It was unspoken between them, and likely always would be, but they both knew it: He and Al were her sons, and she was a mother to them. It didn’t have to be said. Riza could feel it as she drifted off to sleep, holding onto Edward’s warm right hand and slipped into a restful slumber, knowing that both her sons were safe at long last.


	2. Birth/Death/Everything Changes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some mothers are natural made. Other mothers are created through circumstance. But all care for their children. A series of one shots based around the theme of motherhood. Featuring stories involving: Riza Hawkeye, Gracia Hughes, Riza's Mother, and Havoc's mother. Also involving: Edward Elric, Alphonse Elric, Jean Havoc, Roy Mustang, fanchildren and other minor mentions.

**Moms Made Fullmetal Week, 2019**  
**Day 2:** Birth/Death/Everything Changes  
**Characters:** Gracia Hughes. Minor/Mentions: Elysia Hughes, Maes Hughes, Alex Armstrong, Roy Mustang, Riza Hawkeye, The Elric Brothers  
**Summary:** Birth, death, changes in life, Gracia has been through them all, and she knows the pain that they bring with them. But just because something is painful doesn’t mean it’s bad, and it doesn’t mean that you can’t keep going. She will always push forward for the sake of her daughter.

* * *

Life was such a precious thing. It was such a wonderfully, beautifully, precious thing. It started through pain, but then again Gracia wasn’t sure of anything worthwhile that didn’t involve some pain when it came time to achieve it. The same was true of life. She held onto Maes’s hand, gripping it hard as she bore down and pushed, a yell working its way out of her. Maes didn’t complain once, just kept saying encouraging things to her, such as telling her how beautiful she was, how strong, how wonderful, how perfect. Even when she threatened him within an inch of his life, he didn’t stop encouraging her.

Her labor had been long and hard, her water breaking early that morning and it being well into the night by now. Her contractions had been intense and the pain was more then she had imagined it would be. She was certain that she would not want anything touching her for a good long while, and if Maes even thought about—well. It wasn’t happening for a long time. She would need to heal and feel like everything was back like it was supposed to be.

“We’re almost there, Mrs. Hughes. Your baby is crowning. Just a little more. Big pushes for the head and shoulders, come on now you can do this! Push!”

Gracia let out another yell as she did what the doctor said, hearing Maes encourage her as she did. She felt something almost pop in a way, like a partial relief of pressure, but the doctor was encouraging her to push again, and she did, feeling something else come loose, and then something else, and then, finally, the pressure was gone and she was collapsing back into the bed from where she had arched up, breathing hard.

“Gracia…” Maes breathed out, his eyes glued not on her anymore but on what the doctor was holding.

“Congratulations,” the doctor said with a smile. “You have a daughter. Would you like to come cut the cord, Dad?”

Maes squeezed her hand before he practically scampered over there, glee and love in his eyes as he did this first act for their daughter. Gracia watched for a moment, watched as the nurses took their baby to get cleaned up, and Maes followed. She grimaced as the beginnings of afterbirth hit her, and the doctor prepared for that, but she didn’t fault Maes for staying with their daughter. After all, he hadn’t been able to feel her like she had. She’d let him have this moment.

The afterbirth, mercifully, didn’t take long and the nurses were quick to have her cleaned up and settled as comfortably as she was going to get at the moment. Maes came over with their daughter, a new love shinning in his eyes brighter than anything she had ever seen before, even for her. Gracia smiled. That was exactly how she wanted it.

“Gracia, look,” his voice was hushed as he stared down at the baby in the mass of pink blanket. “Look how perfect she is.”

Gracia held out her arms, he passed their baby to her, and she held their daughter in her arms for the first time. The connection was instantaneous. Her little fuzz of hair, her big, sleepy looking eyes, her upturned noise, pursed lips, perfect little fingers and toes—she was perfect, and Gracia knew instantly that she would do anything she could to protect and care for her daughter.

“Welcome to the world,” she said softly, her voice shaking, and the little ones eyes moved towards her, as if recognizing her voice. “Maes, she’s perfect.”

“She sure is,” he said, sitting on the edge of her bed and managing to get an arm around her. “Our little girl. Our little Elysia.”

“We’ll give her everything,” Gracia said.

“Everything,” Maes agreed.

“We’ll keep her safe and happy and she’ll be so loved.” Gracia continued.

“She’ll be loved by everyone,” Maes said.

“Our precious little daughter.”

Maes leaned over and kissed Gracia on the head as Elysia yawned and their world narrowed down to the three of them. “We’ll give her the world.”

And Gracia knew he was right. They would both love her and protect her. They would make sure she grew up happy and healthy and with her parents standing strong beside her.

~*~

Life was such a precious thing. It was such a wonderfully, beautifully, precious thing. It started through pain, and it ended through pain. Gracia wasn’t sure of anything worthwhile that didn’t involve some pain. The same was true of life. When you loved, when you cared, you risked pain. She held onto Elysia’s hand, gripping it firmly as she tried not to break down and pushed a yell that wanted to work its way out of her down. Elysia didn’t complain about how hard Gracia was holding her hand, but she was confused and Gracia didn’t know how to explain it to the little girl. A part of her had hoped that she would remain quiet throughout the service, but Elysia had never been one to be quiet, or to keep her questions to herself.

She was so much like Maes in that.

Finally Gracia couldn’t hold it in anymore, and she bent to hold her daughter, using that to cover the way she wanted to collapse. Elysia was crying for her father, and Gracia was crying for both of them and herself. The little girl finally buried herself in her mother’s hold, and Gracia held her tightly as the three-year-old sobbed for her father, for the father she loved so dearly, her playmate, her best friend. She was still crying when they left the gravesite, Major Armstrong being kind enough to insist on driving them home. Elysia finally fell asleep on the way home, having cried herself to sleep in her mother’s arms. The Major stayed only long enough to make Gracia a cup of tea, and to make sure that she was alright. Gracia thanked him with a smile, and saw him out. Only then, finally alone, did she break down as she had been wanting to do all day.

Maes. _Maes._ The love of her life. He was gone. And all she had to comfort her were her tears that now flowed down her face, and the sobs that forced themselves from her body. She didn’t even make it back to sitting on the couch, instead sitting in the space between the couch and the coffee table, a throw pillow in her arms. It gave some strange sense of security, like when she was a child and would lay under tables to read, or hid under her desk in her room when she was upset. She held onto the pillow and sobbed into it, trying to stifle her tears as so not to wake Elysia.

“Why? Maes, why?” She sobbed out. “What was so important that you had to leave us? What did you do? What did you learn? Why did you have to go?”

She didn’t even know why he had been killed—no one did yet—so she didn’t even know if it was for a good reason or not. All she knew was that he wasn’t here with her. He wasn’t here with her and Elysia.

“You promised! You said we’d give her the world! I can’t give her the world on my own, Maes, because you and her were my world! I gave you to her and now you’re gone! How can I give her the world when you’re gone now?”

She shook as she cried, curling into herself, her head burying itself in the pillow she held in her arms. Her grief was almost over-powering. The only thing that held it back from over taking her was a small girl that was lying asleep upstairs.

_“I’ll be happy every day if I have to. Even if it means that I have to pretend, Gracia, I’ll be happy for you every day. For you and Elysia.”_

Gracia jerked her head upright with a slight gasp as Maes’s words came into her mind. He had told her those after he had been a victim of some particularly bad nightmares after Elysia’s birth. He had seen so much, but he was willing to live on, push, and be happy for his family.

“I’m not as strong as you, Maes,” she whispered out as her face crumpled again, but she knew what his answer would be.

_“Nonsense! I married the strongest, bravest, most beautiful woman in all of Amestris! Maybe we don’t face things exactly the same way, but that doesn’t mean you aren’t strong, Gracia. It just means your strength shows in different ways.”_

She trembled again, clutching the pillow to her as she curled up around it, trying to wrap her heart and mind around a decision that she knew she had to come to in her mind.

“I’ll be happy, Maes. Even if I have to pretend. I’ll do my best to be happy for Elysia. And I’ll never let her forget you.”

~*~

Life was such a precious thing. It was such a wonderfully, beautifully, precious thing. It started through pain, ended through pain, and pain was how it changed. Gracia wasn’t sure of anything worthwhile that didn’t involve some pain. The same was true of life. Sometimes the pain was just the pain of a change you weren’t ready for, even if you should be. She held her hands together, gripping them firmly as she allowed a few tears to come to her eyes and pushed down the desire to declare once again just how beautiful this was. She tried not to grip her hands too tightly, thankful that the gloves she had on would prevent any of that from showing on her hands. Everything had changed, and it had changed over and over again.

The plot her husband had died trying to reveal had been discovered, and it had been ended. Her husband’s murder had been killed. The government had been overthrown and replaced with one that had more checks and balances, and more protections to limit its power so nothing like that could ever happen again. The Elric boys had gotten their bodies back and moved on with their lives, traveling and learning, and now with wives and children of their own. Her husband’s best friend had finally come to peace with many things, had pushed for the dreams both he and Maes had talked about. Ishval was a restored country, and there was much peace with the nations that surrounded Amestris now. He had become Fuhrer and had changed even more things, even eventually marrying his adjunct and the woman everyone knew he loved, and he and Riza even had kids of their own.

The changes that had swept across the country had been immense, although Gracia hadn’t been involved in most of that. She had heard it second or third hand, and was often on the sidelines of things. She worked hard to raise Elysia by herself, although she had plenty of help with the number of people that liked to drop by and check on them and talk to them. Elysia had only a few dim memories of her father, but she had enough stories that she knew what he was like. Through it all, Gracia had done her best to stay firm and steady for Elysia, and Elysia and her had been happy together. But Gracia knew enough to know that everything changes in life, and although it’s often painful, that didn’t mean it was bad.

Just like this change, and, although it made her joyful, it made her heart hurt in a myriad of ways.

The music played, the people stood, and with Roy Mustang, the Fuhrer himself, walking her down the aisle, Elysia came walking, resplendent in her wedding dress and with eyes only for her soon-to-be husband. Gracia watched, made eye contact with Roy, and saw the same mix of joy and hurt in his eyes that she felt. In fact, as she watched the service go on, and the reception afterwards, she saw it in many people’s eyes. They were overjoyed for Elysia and her husband, but they couldn’t help but think that Maes should have been here.

He would have loved all the changes that had happened, Gracia couldn’t help but think, and at her getting sentimental over this, he would have been the first to tell her that everything changes, but it’s okay, as long as we keep moving forward. And so Gracia took the change of pain, acknowledged it, and then set it aside to be happy for her daughter as she moved forward into this change.

~*~

Life was such a precious thing. It was such a wonderfully, beautifully, precious thing. It came through pain, it ended through pain, and it changed through pain. Gracia knew that sometimes the pain was a good pain, sometimes the pain was a bad pain, and sometimes the pain was simply the pain of change. But everything that was worthwhile had pain attached to it: Birth, death, change. Gracia Hughes had been through all of them and weathered them for the sake of her daughter. She would be through them yet again at some point for her daughter. But that was alright. Because this wonderful, beautiful, precious life was worth all the varied kinds of pain it brought.


	3. Disappointment/Pride/I Need Answers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some mothers are natural made. Other mothers are created through circumstance. But all care for their children. A series of one shots based around the theme of motherhood. Featuring stories involving: Riza Hawkeye, Gracia Hughes, Riza's Mother, and Havoc's mother. Also involving: Edward Elric, Alphonse Elric, Jean Havoc, Roy Mustang, fanchildren and other minor mentions.

**Moms Made Fullmetal Week, 2019**  
**Day 3:** Disappointment/Pride/I Need Answers  
**Summary:** The Mustang Children have a tendency to get themselves in trouble. But while it often leaves Riza in need of answers, and leaves her telling her children that she’s disappointed in their actions, she does have a little bit of pride in just how well they manage to pull these antics off.

* * *

Riza paced in front of the culprits, her boots making very sturdy sounds as she did. That sound, her silence, the pacing, and her sharp eyes, well, it had others in the room already flinching back, looking worriedly at the culprits in front of her when they thought she wasn’t looking. She knew that the others in the room were worried about what was going to happen to the three she was pacing in front of. But whatever it was that she was going to do, they also didn’t dare to interfere. They were too concerned about keeping their own skins out of it.

She stopped in front of them, sharply, her hands clasped firmly behind her back as she looked down at the three small culprits in front of her. The three, small, soapy culprits, who were literally slippery. The three, small, soapy, literally slippery culprits that just so happened to be her children. Her eyes were sharp and hard, her mouth in a hard line, and she was clearly not pleased.

“I need answers.”

Her voice was quiet, but cutting, and nearly everyone in the room flinched at least a bit and turned back to their task of removing the bubbles and soap from the Fuhrer’s office. Her three children looked up at her, each with a slightly different look on his or her face, but clearly united in staying together. That much was clear from the defiant gleam in their eyes, even if Richie was holding Ruthie’s hand, and Ruthie looked a little upset. Lewis, somehow, kept his face looking somewhat neutral.

He had gotten that from her.

The office was covered in bubbles and soap, with water everywhere. Papers were wet, books were hurriedly being dried, furniture was being carted out, and the drapes were being taken down. Somehow their children had managed to get something in here that ended up making things both wet and soapy and filled the office with the bubbles. They were just lucky that more water wasn’t involved, because if certain things had been destroyed they wouldn’t have been given the chance to explain themselves. It would have been spankings for them all, on top of some other, later coming, punishment.

She still had no idea how they had managed it. Yes, there was a small water feature that Roy kept in the office. It had been a gift from Xing, a miniature replica of the water feature found in the Royal Gardens that Roy had enjoyed so much. And yes, soap could be found around headquarters. It was needed for handwashing and cleaning purposes. And yes, the children had been allowed in the office before, everyone knew that.

But to the proportions that they had managed?

Riza had no idea how they had pulled it off.

Riza turned away from her children, noting that the twins had moved slightly closer to Lewis, standing a bit behind their big brother, on either side of him. Richie was still holding Ruthie’s hand. Riza didn’t acknowledge this, instead turning towards the room that seemed to be the source of the bubbles. The highest concentration of them seemed to be coming from the small bathroom that was kept just off of the office, for the Fuhrer’s own private use. She could vaguely hear and see figures working in there, trying to figure out where the bubbles were coming from and how to make sure it was stopped. Riza had already ordered the water turned off to the office, which had stopped it, but it didn’t explain how the bubbles had been produced.

“General Mustang!” one of them said. “I think I found—“

“Wait,” she said and the soldier immediately fell silent. She turned back to her children. “It would be better for you to tell me what happened than for me to find out in an investigation.” Her voice was level, cool, and serious.

The children glanced at each other, as if holding a conversation with each other with just their eyes—something else they had picked up from their parents—and then Lewis let out a sigh.

“We didn’t mean for it to get this out of hand,” he said, and she could hear the regret in his voice. “We just thought it would be fun.”

Riza raised her eyebrow, and the children started explaining.

“It was my idea,” Richie said. “I read a story in a book about a kid who had made a fountain shoot out bubbles. I read it to Ruthie and she liked it a lot.”

“The bubbles came out and flew everywhere,” Ruthie said. “The pictures made it look so pretty! There were bubbles everywhere!”

“And then I showed it to Lewis, and asked him if we could do it,” Richie said.

“I didn’t think we should at first,” Lewis cut in, “but I did want to know how do it, and I got curious. I figured it couldn’t hurt to experiment a little bit. So we started getting soaps from around the house and experimenting to find what bubbled the best.”

Riza’s face remained impassive, but somehow she wasn’t too surprised. Honestly, she would not be the least bit surprised if Lewis ended up being an alchemist. Or an engineer. It really depended on if he hung out with Kain Fuery or the Elric brothers more.

It also explained what had happened to some of her more expensive soap. She’d just thought Roy had gotten into it again.

The children continued.

“I figured it out,” Lewis said, “and then I started thinking about what kind of system we’d need for the bubbles. We needed water, of course, but to make just bubbles flow out, that was going to be more difficult.”

“So we started looking at different fountains,” Richie picked up. “And Lewis decided that either the fountain in the middle of the city or the one here would be the best.”

The three exchanged looks again, as if deciding just how far to go, before Lewis spoke up again.

“We decided to do it here, because it would be easier to get our supplies here,” he said.

Riza raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?” she asked them.

They started fidgeting just a bit.

“Well… it was going to take a lot to make the whole fountain bubble. And we’d need to be able to get into it a bit. It’s harder to get access to the one in the square, or to pile things up by it. People mess with them or wouldn’t let us get near that part. But it’s easier here.” Lewis explained. “All we had to do was order the supplies.”

“That part wasn’t too hard,” Richie said. “All we had to do was add to inventory lists and wait. No one questioned it. And we knew when the stuff was coming in anyway.”

“We’d sneak it off together, or sometimes I’d stop and talk to people,” Ruthie said. “I was good at distracting them!” she grinned.

“Then we stored them in a room we knew that no one went in,” Lewis explained, “and we mixed it all together. We even got it to a place where we could get it in the fountain easily. But…”

Again, the children exchanged a look.

“But?” Riza prompted.

“Well… I wanted to go ahead and see the bubbles,” Ruthie said.

“And I thought it might be a good idea to test it out first, because this was a bigger batch then I’d mixed up before,” Lewis said.

“So I thought about Dad’s little fountain, and thought it might work,” Richie said.

“All we could find to put it in was a gallon jug, though,” Ruthie said. “So we filled that up and smuggled it up to the office.”

“It was hard to get it passed the secretary,” Richie said. “We had to hide it and distract her, and it wasn’t easy.”

“When we got in, I took the fountain and I got into the water lines and figured out how to hook them and the soap up to the fountain so that it could bubble.” Lewis said. “And—and it worked!” he grinned a little, obviously proud of that fact, before he remembered that he was in trouble and did his best to drop his proud look.

“Buuuut it worked too well,” Ruthie said. “And the things got stuck.”

“The hook-ups,” Lewis said, looking a little ashamed.

“And then the bubbles were everywhere and we couldn’t stop them!” Richie put in.

“We tried! We really did!” Ruthie defended them. “Lewis tried to use his tools and everything!”

“Tools?” Riza questioned.

Lewis cringed. “I… might have… borrowed a few tools…”

Riza’s eyes narrowed at him, but the story continued.

“Anyway,” Richie cut in, clearly trying to save his brother, “it kinda turned into a bigger mess then we meant for it to, and, well then the secretary came in and, well…” he kind of shrugged, and all three kids looked up at her, sheepishly.

Riza took in a breath, and then let it out. “Let me see if I understand this correctly. The three of you plotted to sabotage the fountain, altered requisition logs, stole the materials once they arrived, mixed chemicals in an enclosed environment, stored them without permission, positioned your sabotage in place, smuggled an unknown chemical mixture into the Fuhrer’s office, and then used said chemical mixture into the Fuhrer’s office. Do I have that correct?”

Her voice was tight, clipped, and not only did the children cringe, but so did all of the adults in the room. That voice only came out when someone was in serious trouble.

“You knew what you were doing was wrong,” she said. “You knew that we would not approve, because you did it all in secret. And I am very, very disappointed in all three of you.”

Guilt marred the children’s faces, and Ruthie and Richie looked like they were about to cry. Lewis kept his emotions under better control, but it was clear that he was upset by his mother’s words too.

“We will talk about your punishment later. I will need to discuss this with your father. In the meantime, go retrieve your soap concoction from the fountain so that no one accidently uses it. It will be confiscated, and you will show me this room you used.”

Muted and watery “yes ma’am”s came from all of the children, and they filed out of the room, Ruthie already sniffling. They knew that they were in huge trouble.

Riza took a breath when they left, taking a moment to settle herself. Her children. _Her children_. How in the _world_ had they managed to do all of that? They were crafty and inventive little things, and she honestly couldn’t help the little bit of pride that welled up in her. Her children had managed to circumvent all of the safeguards that had been put into place to prevent things like this from happening. They had managed to get make a plot, adjust forms, sneak supplies away, combine those supplies, put things in place, and smuggle things around the building all without being caught. This had to have taken them months to do, and they had done it. They had meticulously plotted and planned it, and executed it nearly perfectly, if not for the slip up with the Xingese water feature.

She let out a sigh, and put her hands on her hips, looking around the room. “Well, soldiers, it appears we have some reforms to do on security around here. Because if my three children could manage to pull off a scheme like this, imagine what someone who actually intended harm would do. This is unacceptable! Security will be brought into this. For now, keep cleaning. We need this room back in order.”

A chorus of “yes ma’am” met her ears, but before any of them could say anything else there was the sound of yells from the courtyard and then the stampede of small feet as her children came rushing back into the room yelling “Mom!” and pointing to the windows. They all went to look, Riza, the children, and the soldiers a like as the fountain in the courtyard began to erupt in bubbles and soldiers began to back away from the frothing mess.

“…Sorry, Mom. We didn’t make it in time,” Lewis said sheepishly.

Riza sighed.

Yes, these were definitely her and Roy’s kids.


	4. Learn/Teach/I'm Sorry

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some mothers are natural made. Other mothers are created through circumstance. But all care for their children. A series of one shots based around the theme of motherhood. Featuring stories involving: Riza Hawkeye, Gracia Hughes, Riza's Mother, and Havoc's mother. Also involving: Edward Elric, Alphonse Elric, Jean Havoc, Roy Mustang, fanchildren and other minor mentions.

**Moms Made Fullmetal Week, 2019**  
**Day 4:** Learn/Teach/I’m Sorry   
**Summary:** Clarise Elizabeth Grumman Hawkeye may not have had much time with her daughter, but she can hope and pray that what time she had was worthwhile.

* * *

Clarise Elizabeth Grumman Hawkeye had always been a stubborn woman. From her earliest memories she remembered adoring her mother, but coming in conflict with her father. He was a man with his eye on power for the future, and he had no problem using his family to help him get there. Her mother had a weak constitution, and thus often went along quietly with his plans, not having the will to argue. But Clarise had rebelled, especially as she grew older and understood just the kind of games her father was playing. She wanted no part of them. She had the same aptitude for them, though, and she was determined to either beat him, or remove herself from his games.

When the opportunity had come to remove herself from them, she had taken it. It wasn’t how she thought she was going to do it, but life was always like that. Of course, as a teenager planning she hadn’t expected her own path to include a small girl who was just as stubborn as she was, and just as determined not to listen to her as she had been towards her father.

As she eyed the toddler, she couldn’t help but think of the book she had picked up on parenting the last time she had gone into the city. It had lots of useful advice—and lots that Clarise found not helpful at her. The least helpful had been “You’ll learn in time, and you’ll learn by doing—the same as your child will.”

It really hadn’t helped Clarise any. It had just made things more frustrating. After all, a baby was a baby and they didn’t know what was good for them! That’s why they had parents!

“Riza! Riza put that down!” Clarise reached for the little girl, trying to snatch a stick of charcoal out of her hand. She had no idea where the little girl had gotten it from, but she suspected it had come from Berthold’s alchemy supplies.

The one year old just glared defiantly at through blond bangs and from under the table, clutched it harder, and screamed.

“Riza Hawkeye!” Clarise snapped out. “I’ve about had enough of this!”

Riza screamed again, bringing the stick closer to her mouth.

“Riza…” She warned, already moving chairs out of the way so she could get to her daughter.

Riza glared at her, and then stuck the stick in her mouth. It didn’t take her long before she was yelling again, but this time it was more of a wail of displeasure. Clarise stopped, crouched in front of the table and waited to see what was going to happen next. Riza looked at the charcoal stick like it had betrayed her, and threw it, immediately reaching for her mother. Clarise sighed, but held her arms out, and Riza came right into them. She lifted the baby up, and took her towards the kitchen, both cuddling and scolding the wailing toddler. “I told you to put it down, didn’t I?” she said. “I’m sure you’ll remember now.” She took a rag and dipped it in some water, washing Riza’s mouth out, then took a soft teething stick and put it in a little honey, giving that to Riza instead. Still crying, Riza took it, sucking and chewing on it, and snuffling against her mother’s shoulder now. Clarise held her as she walked back over to where Riza had thrown the charcoal.

“Charcoal is no good, Riza. Icky. Yucky.” She said as she picked it up and held it out for Riza to see.

“Ick. Yuck,” Riza agreed, her brown eyes still on it, but clearly not wanting it anymore. In fact, the next time Riza found some charcoal—really, Berthold should be better about keeping it picked up by now—she brought it to Clarise, repeating the words of “Ick. Yuck.” to her.

Hm. Perhaps there was something to this learn by doing business, something that Clarise needed to reconsider. She was hesitant to let Riza explore and learn on her own, afraid of her daughter getting hurt or sick or injured. She always had been. But that night, as she watched Berthold play with their daughter and heard her laughs, Clarise thought it over. She had always been so restricted by her parents, her father trying to force her into a certain mold, and her mother not strong enough to keep up with Clarise. Perhaps she needed to let Riza learn on her own some more. Perhaps it would help the little girl more in the long run if she explored and learned now, while both her mother and father were nearby.

Maybe she could let her little girl learn about the world in ways she hadn’t been able to.

~*~

“No, Riza. Icky. Don’t pick that up. That’s icky.”

Clarise watched as her two year old looked up at her from where she had paused to look at something right outside of the fruit stall they had stopped at. “Why?” she asked her mother.

Clarise took a better look at it, realizing it was a rotten apple. “Because it’s rotten,” Clarise said.

“Oh.” Riza considered that, then seemed to think some more. “Why is it rotten?”

“Because it got old, and that’s what happens to old fruits.”

“Oh.” A pause. “Why?”

The lady at the stall chuckled. “She’s a smart one, Clarise, your Riza. Full sentences already and lots of questions.”

“Lots of everything,” Clarise said with a smile. “She’s always asking questions, always wanting to know more, and always watching. She learned how to speak full sentences early on, I think just so she could ask her questions.”

“Always?” the lady said with a little chuckle. “Those questions must get a little old.”

“Not really,” Clarise said. “She likes to learn. And I figure, if she’s watching and learning, well, I might as well teach her. It’s not going to hurt her, at any rate.”

“I suppose so,” the lady said. “In a few years she’ll be ready for school. I’m sure she’ll be far passed the others by then, if you’re teaching her so already.” She nodded at Riza, who was gazing intently at the sign with the picture of apples by it. “Looks like she’s already trying to read.”

Riza was looking at the picture of the apples, and the word “apple” beside it intently. “Apples,” she finally said, pointing at the picture. Her finger moved to point to the word next to it. “Apples?” she said. “Mommy, is it apples?”

Clarise blinked at her surprised. “Yes,” she said. “That says apples.”

Riza beamed.

Clarise considered.

~*~

“The f...fish is red. The w..wuh-ah-t-ee-rr…wuhahteer…wateer…”

“Water.”

“water… is blue. The p-luh-ah-nn-t-ss…plants… are gr…green.

“Very good, Riza. Can you read it again?”

“The fish is red. The w..wateer—water—is blue. The plants are green!”

“Very good, Riza!” Clarise squeezed her daughter from where she read on her lap.

Riza grinned up at her mom, “I read it!” the three year old said.

“You did!” Clarise said. “I’m so proud of you! Do you want to read some more to me?”

“Yes!”

“Then we’ll finish this book, and you can help Mommy with supper, okay?”

“Okay!”

Clarise listened as Riza slowly and carefully read the simple book, only stumbling over the words here and there. She had started teaching Riza her letters and counting when she was still two, as the girl had seemed interested in it. At that time she hadn’t actually been reading, although she had been making connections between pictures, shapes, and words. But the more that Clarise had taught her, the quicker Riza had caught on. She was still more than half a year away from being four, and she was already reading small sentences, although she needed help. She had also gotten very good at counting and had picked up quickly on how her mother did things around the house. She hadn’t learned as much from Berthold, as he didn’t want her around his alchemy work, just in case of something dangerous, but she had learned a few things from him as well.

Clarise hadn’t realized just how much Riza had learned to do until some of the ladies commented on just how well little Riza could do things, and how their own children hadn’t known to do similar things at that age. That had made up Clarise’s mind. If Riza could learn that much just by watching, then surely she could learn more if she was actually taught.

Every day they went over the letters and numbers. She had Riza count things to her and describe them to her. She had her help her read recipes and spell out words that she didn’t know. Clarise made sure to count things out loud herself. She made sure to describe things using varied vocabulary. She made sure to read out loud, running her fingers under words when Riza was watching. She made sure to explain what she was doing and why.

She taught.

Riza learned.

“The fish is red. The water is blue. The plants are green. The ducks are yellow. The sheep are white. The fruit is purple. The flower is orange. The cow is brown. The dog is black. There are colors everywhere.”

Yes, Riza was learning rapidly. “Good job!” Clarise said. “Now how about you help Mommy with supper?”

“Can I read to Daddy?” Riza asked, looking up at her mom.

“Daddy is working right now. But how about after supper?” Clarise offered, glancing towards her husband’s study door.

“Okay! I’ll read to him tonight!”

“Good girl,” Clarise said, kissing her head. “Now come help Mommy read the recipie for supper. You can learn how to cook!”

Riza giggled, clearly happy. “Yay! I like learning! Learning is fun!”

Clarise smiled, standing up and putting Riza down. If it made her daughter happy, Clarise would teach her everything she could.

“Mommy? It said the ducks are yellow and the sheep are white. But outside the ducks are white and the sheep are kinda brown.”

“Just different kinds of ducks. And the sheep are just dirty.”

“Oh. Can we give the sheep a bath? And are there lots of different ducks?”

Well. Perhaps teaching her everything was going to require more patience then Clarise realized.

~*~

“….Mommy?”

Clarise turned her head, looking at the doorway through bleary eyes. Through all the people that were in her bedroom—the doctor, the neighbors, her husband—she could just make out Riza. Riza was standing in the doorway, a book held in her hands, one that was too complicated for the four-year-old to read alone yet.

“Riza,” she breathed out, panting heavily. There was a cloth on her head, trying to keep her fever down, although it wasn’t working. Still, even through it all, she could tell that Riza was upset, was scared.

“Mommy? Can you read to me? You said you’d read this book to me. I really want read it with you!” Riza asked her.

“I’m sorry, Riza,” Clarise said, coughing a little as she did. “But Mommy doesn’t feel like reading to you right now.”

“Are you sure?” Clarise’s heart broke. She could hear the fear in Riza’s voice. “You—you promised that we’d read it together.”

“Your mother needs to rest, dear,” their neighbor was saying. “She’s sick. But I’ll read it with you.”

Riza pulled away, clutching the book to herself. “No!” she said. “I don’t want to read it with you! I want to read it with Mommy!”

“I know dear, but your mother needs her rest. Why don’t we just leave her alone and—“

“No!” Riza darted around the woman, and under other legs, making her way to her mother’s side, the book in her hands, and practically threw herself on the bed. “Mommy, please!” she said, and Clarise could see the tears on Riza’s face. “You said you’d read it to me! So you have to! You have to!”

“Riza.” Berthold was standing over both of them, and reached for their daughter.

“No!” Riza said, crying now. “No, no! Mommy has to read the book with me! Please!”

Berthold picked her up, and held the little girl closely. “Riza, please calm down.”

“No! Mommy, Mommy, please!”

“Wait.” Clarise’s voice was weak, but it was there. “Just…” she coughed again, and took another breath, shallow though it was. “Let me read a little to her.”

“Clarise—“ Berthold said.

“Please,” Clarise begged.

The room seemed to give in then, and Riza was let go, allowed to sit next to her mother. “I’ll help you hold the book open, Mommy,” she said. “And help you read if your eyes get tired.”

“Thank you, my darling,” Clarise said back, her voice light. She started reading, although her voice was weak, and she stumbled over words. Riza did her best to help her where she could, Berthold helping out here and there with a tear choked voice.

Her last time reading with her daughter. And everyone in the room except for Riza knew it.

She suddenly realized that no one was reading anymore, and Riza was asking her why she wasn’t reading anymore, fear in her voice. She tried to talk, but she couldn’t manage it. Her sight was blurring.

“I’m sorry,” she thought.

She could hear her little girl getting more distraught, and her husband’s desperate voice.

“I’m sorry,” she thought again, wanting desperately to comfort them, but unable to do so.

“I’m sorry Berthold.” She couldn’t be here to ground him anymore.

“I’m sorry, my Riza,” she couldn’t be there to teach her anymore. “I hope what I’ve taught you and what you’ve learned has been enough.”

As she felt her life slipping from her, felt her time end, Clarise learned her hardest lesson yet. She knew she had done her best to learn, to teach, and to pass on knowledge and skills to her daughter. Now she had to learn to let it go, and hope it was enough.


	5. Comfort/Anger/Release

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some mothers are natural made. Other mothers are created through circumstance. But all care for their children. A series of one shots based around the theme of motherhood. Featuring stories involving: Riza Hawkeye, Gracia Hughes, Riza's Mother, and Havoc's mother. Also involving: Edward Elric, Alphonse Elric, Jean Havoc, Roy Mustang, fanchildren and other minor mentions.

**Moms Made Fullmetal Week, 2019**  
**Day 5:** Comfort/Anger/Release  
**Summary:** Marie Havoc considered herself a good mother. But that didn’t mean that it was always easy. And when her eldest son is facing his toughest challenge yet, Marie has to figure out what it means to be a good mother in these circumstances.

* * *

Marie Havoc considered herself to be a good mother. Her children seemed to consider her that too. But sometimes she had no idea what a good mother would do for her children. That was especially true now.

Marie stood behind the counter of the Havoc general store and watched. Her eyes stayed glued to her eldest son as he—well, she couldn’t really say “stood” any more could she?—outside where the little ones from around were playing. He was tossing a ball around with them, the kids begging him to throw it as far as he could, and he would throw it hard, sending it further away than anyone else could. The kids delightedly chased after the ball laughing and scrambling after it. Jean laughed too, but as the kids ran off, part of the light in his eyes died. It might not have been as obvious to anyone else, but a mother knew.

“Ma—you’re gonna get a wrinkle between yer eyes if ya don’t stop that.”

Marie’s attention snapped back from the window and to her daughter, who was grinning up at her from where she was replacing some of the stock they kept in the front of the counter. Her hand flew up to her forehead. “Was I doin’ it again?”

Bethany straighten up and nodded. “Yes ma’am. Ya had that look again, the one ya get when ya look at Jean when ya think he’s not lookin’.” She looked out the window at him, too, as the kids ran around back and he wheeled after them, and put her hand over her mother’s. “He knows, ya know. He’s not always the sharpest tool in the shed, but Jean’s observant. He knows how ya worry.”

Marie smiled at Bethany and gave her hand a pat. “It’s a mother’s job to worry,” she said. “Especially when her child’s been through somethin’. Mind the store, will ya?”

Bethany nodded, and walked behind the counter, switching places with her mother. Marie walked towards the back of the store, and through the back, into their home. This store had been here a long time, and when it had been built, it had been built with the store in the front, and the house attached in the back. It was both a blessing and a curse at time, but Marie didn’t give much thought to it anymore. It was as it was, and she had accepted it when she had married Thomas. Right now it afforded her a quick trip into her domain—the kitchen.

There were a few dishes left in the sink, and she set to them, cleaning them up and giving her hands something to do. She needed to think for a few moments. He was so sad, her Jean. He had always been active. It had been obvious from early on that he wasn’t going to be the smartest in the bunch of kids. He was by no means stupid, none of her kids were. They were very well educated and made good grades. But Jean had always struggled more with it then her other children, although he never got jealous about it, always happy for his younger siblings when they understood something. Yes, he had had his insecurities about it, but he had bore them quietly, and instead focused on what he was good at.

Jean’s strengths had always lied more in the physical and untestable. The boy had always been active, always moving, always doing things. He never hesitated to stop to help someone, to do what he could for them. He had a big heart, and a way of just knowing when someone needed something, even if he didn’t always know what that something was. He would gladly go out of his way to help a friend however he could. Those were his strengths.

And now, it seemed, that had been stripped from him. He was lost, and he needed to know that he was still useful, still capable, still good. His insecurities had returned, only this time more potent because he was a man now, not a boy, and his ability to stand strong like he was supposed to had been taken from him. He needed to know he was good for more than just answering phones and throwing balls for kids.

Marie’s hand dried the last dish, and she heard that now-familiar sound of wheels across wooden planks. He must have come up the ramp his father and brothers had built for him, and across the porch. She could see him, as he stopped and looked out into the distance. The kids must have gone somewhere he couldn’t anymore, and it must have rankled him. After all, he grew up running around this countryside.

A thought occurred to her, and she leaned out the window. After all, he had always found comfort in her baking. “Jean? Jean, darlin’, can you come give me a hand?”

Jean looked up, a little surprised, but then wheeled his way towards the screened door, pulling it open with its customary creak, and maneuvered his way inside. “Ma? I thought you were watchin’ the store?”

“Bethany’s gonna watch it for a mite. I had the passin’ urge to do some bakin’ before these apples go bad. You know what a waste that would be. But I could use a hand with some of the mixin’. Ya mind givin’ yer old mama a hand with that?”

He gave her a gentle smile, the one that was just for her, and agreed. “You’re not old, Ma. But sure I’ll give you a hand. Dunno how much help I’ll be, but I can try.”

There he went again, disparaging on himself, and Marie just kept her tongue on it. She had been calling him out on it every time, but Thomas had warned her about doing it too much. After all, he had reminded her, she didn’t want to shut down the grieving he had to be doing about his legs and his former life.

But her feelings on that and his Colonel were another story.

“I’m sure you’ll do just fine. Ya always were a mighty help in the kitchen.” She said firmly. She started doling out directions, at first just asking him to do simple things, like measure out ingredients and such, but after a bit she was asking him to get things or do things that she had been doing. He was doing better at it then she was sure he had thought he would, even if there were some areas he wasn’t able to do yet. When they finished, up, she made them both a cup of coffee and they sat at the table, waiting for the apple turnovers to bake.

“—and that was when we figured out that Heymans had a huge fear of dogs!”

Maria laughed as he finished recounting the story to her, enjoying it, even if she had swatted him a bit at the “joke” he had made about eating the poor pup. “Well I can’t say much for that Lady Lieutenant’s namin’ skills, but I bet she takes good care of that pup!”

“Oh yeah. She loves him almost as much as she loves the Colonel—only she can show the dog her love!”

Marie just hummed at the mention of the Colonel, and took a sip of her coffee, letting the story hang for a moment.

“…Hey, Ma?”

She looked back up at him, leaving her thoughts behind. “Yes?”

“…Thanks. For, ya know, this. It was good t’ feel useful again.”

He wasn’t quite looking at her, his pride being his pride, but Marie didn’t mind. She knew her eldest. She reached across and patted his hand.

“I have no idea what in the world yer talking about, Son,” she said. “I just needed a little help, and I knew you could do it.”

He smiled at her, a bit of tension in him releasing, and something in her loosened a bit as well. It wasn’t much, but it was, at least, one form of comfort she could offer her son—the ability to feel useful.

~*~

“Yer makin’ a lot of noise, ya know.” Her husband stood in the doorway of the kitchen, observing his wife as she viciously attacked the dishes from supper, cleaning them with a vengeance.

“I’m fine.” She said firmly.

“No,” Thomas said, “Yer not. And you hide it pretty well, but ya can’t hide if from me.” He frowned, looking her over. “Yer still angry, aren’t ya?”

She practically threw the scrubbing brush she had in her hands in the sink, and turned to face her husband. He moved all the way in, letting the door close behind him, cutting of the sound of their children and a few grandchildren being entertained by the stories that Jean was telling of his time in the military. Good. They needed the barrier.

“Yer dang-near right I’m still mad!” she snapped at him, keeping her voice low. This wasn’t a conversation she wanted Jean to hear. “That Colonel o’ his—that’s all he can talk about! Colonel Mustang this and Colonel Mustang that, ‘n’ how great the man is!”

“He served under him a while, Marie. Jean obviously looks up to him.” Thomas said, moving closer to her. “He made some big kinda impact on him.”

“Oh, yes! Some big kinda impact!” Marie said mockingly, although she wasn’t mocking her husband. “Big enough that he got our son nearly killed ‘n’ disabled ‘n’ there’s nothin’ that can change that! Yet he’s still in there holdin’ out hope fer somethin’!”

“Marie.”

“Dontcha Marie me, Thomas Havoc! If he was so great, then why’d he go ‘n’ let out boy get hurt like that! Why’d he just turn ‘im loose, ‘steada doin’ somethin’ fer him! Why’d he—Why—“

She was trembling, tears starting to burn hot in her eyes and Thomas came up to her, pulling her close to him and holding her in his arms for a moment. She was balled up and hot with anger, but Thomas had always had a calming effect on her.

“Marie, I know yer angry. I am too. But I think yer angry at the wrong person, love,” Thomas said, his voice as calming as his presence. He pulled back a little. “Yer angry at Colonel Mustang, and I understand that. But Mar… That Colonel was hurt too, and he did what he could to save our boy, then risked his life ta rescue that lady lieutenant and a boy, who called for help after that. Ya know he can’t give us all the details, but he’s told us that much.”

Marie was not ready to stop being angry, though. “But he just turned him loose! He didn’t even have the common curtsey ta try ta do somethin’ else for ‘im!”

Thomas took a breath. “Marie. I get why yer mad. I wanna be too. But Jean still respects that Colonel o’ his, and if we wanna help Jean get used ta his new life, then we can’t be mad at the Colonel. He holds him in too high of regard.”

Marie was silent, her jaw working, and she pulled back and turned to the sink again. “…I can’t promise anythin’ soon, but I see yer point, Tom. I’ll try.”

He kissed her head. “Yer a good mother, and a good wife, and I love ya. All I ask is that ya try.”

Marie kept scrubbing on the dishes.

~*~

Marie let out a sigh as she watched Jean talking to this odd man, and listened to the conversation that he was having. He was being really careful not to let anyone else in on it, but they all knew that he was up to something. These orders of weapons and such from Xing over the past months, he promised that he had a buyer for them. He made calls and talked to people, and bit by bit things were ordered and amassed.

He was working again, her boy.

He had purpose again.

And Marie was pretty darn certain just who she had to thank for that.

Her boy and his big heart and drive to help however he could. She huffed a little.

She waited until the man had left, taking a receipt with him to show to Jean’s brothers who were working on the stock so he could get what he needed. Jean seemed to be grinning to himself, clearly satisfied with whatever had just happened.

“Who was that, Jean?” she asked him.

Jean turned to look at her, looking over his shoulder a bit. “No one ta worry ‘bout, Ma. Just one of my special orders.”

She reached for the ledger, flipping through it. “You’ve had lots o’ these special orders lately—and there was that beat up ol’ ice cream truck ya found and sold.”

He reached up and gently tugged the ledger from her hands. “Yeah, well, I think I might have found a good market for ‘em, albeit a temporary one.”

She eyed him. “How temporary?” she asked.

“I promise, Ma, I won’t over buy us, okay? I know they’re expensive, but I promise we’ll get paid in full soon.”

Marie took in a breath and let it out again. “…Jean. Just answer this one question for yer old Ma. I won’t say another word about it all, if you’ll just answer it.”

He looked at her curiously.

“…Does this have somethin’ ta do with that Colonel of yers?”

His eyes widened and he looked away from her, instead wheeling himself closer to the counter. “Ma. Does it really matter? I’ve got us a market and it’ll pay off.” He turned and smiled at her. “So dontcha worry about it, Ma! I promise that it’ll all work out!”

She just looked at him evenly, then nodded, and headed back towards the house and the kitchen. “Mind the store for a mite, will ya?” she asked, although she didn’t wait for an answer. “I’ve got some letters and such to attend to.”

She heard his agreement as she left, turning over the conversation she had just had in her mind. Her hands moved to fix herself a cup of tea, going through the motions without her mind really on it, and she sat at the table, looking at the pile of mail she had to go through. There was one that was marked from an address that she had figured out was one of Jean’s military friends, and she stared at it for a moment, before pushing the pile away.

She still had anger towards Colonel Mustang. How could she not? He was supposed to look after her son! But that anger wasn’t doing her any good. It wasn’t helping to comfort her son. It wasn’t helping to make him better or give him focus again. No, her anger was useless, just bogging her down.

Somehow, it always came back to the Colonel. She didn’t know what Jean saw in him, but whatever it was, it was a powerful motivator. She saw the hand exercises he did. She saw the way that he took to studying more, learning more, even if he sometimes needed to talk it over with someone. She saw the motivation he had to find equipment that would help keep him mobile, and talking his brothers into helping him build it. She saw how this new “project” of his—something that she was sure was all to benefit the Colonel somehow—motivated him to keep going and move forward.

Whatever the Colonel was doing, whatever his aims were, her Jean had been quite impacted by them and they were what drove him forward.

And if she kept this anger towards him, it would drive her and her eldest apart.

Marie took a breath. Then another. Then another.

“Alright,” she said in barely a whispered voice. “Alright. I’ve been a-holding onto this for too long. It’s time to let it go. I need to release this anger if I’m to help my son move forward.”

She sat there, breathing in, thinking about all the reasons she had to be angry with the Colonel, and then releasing them one by one, turning them into the good that she could see in her boy and, eventually, she had gone through them all.

Marie opened her eyes, and looked at her tea. She may not understand it, but if it would bring her son healing and comfort, then she’d release the anger she felt towards the Colonel. Perhaps it was a mother’s misplaced anger, or perhaps it was justified. She wasn’t sure. But if her son could get himself together and move on, then so could she. That way she could stay by his side the whole way, supporting him where she could.

After all, what else could a good mother do?


	6. Lost/Found/Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some mothers are natural made. Other mothers are created through circumstance. But all care for their children. A series of one shots based around the theme of motherhood. Featuring stories involving: Riza Hawkeye, Gracia Hughes, Riza's Mother, and Havoc's mother. Also involving: Edward Elric, Alphonse Elric, Jean Havoc, Roy Mustang, fanchildren and other minor mentions.

**Moms Made Fullmetal Week, 2019**  
**Day 6:** Lost/Found/Family  
**Summary:** Alphonse has sometimes felt lost in the military life, at other times he’s been found because of it. But through Hawkeye’s gentle touch he’s found himself a family again.

* * *

It was difficult to keep up with things in the military sometimes. Alphonse was usually alright following his brother around, but sometimes he couldn’t, sometimes he just felt like he was in the way, and sometimes he got bored. But whenever he found himself separated out from Ed, Alphonse found himself feeling a little bit lost. It only seemed worse when he was lost on military premises. After all, he wasn’t a soldier. He wasn’t a member of the military. He was just an eleven-year old kid in a huge armored body.

Right now he was standing in an unfortunately busy area of East Headquarters, trying not to be in the way, but feeling like he was just getting in it more and more. He kept apologizing, but he just felt like people were getting more and more irritated at him. It just made him feel worse and worse. It wasn’t his fault his body was so big and difficult to move in! He was trying to stay out of the way! It was times like this that he felt like, if he could cry, he might, just because he felt so bad and was so embarrassed. (not that the crying would have been any less embarrassing, just a different kind, and at least a release).

To make it worse, he had no idea where to go to get out of the way, or how to at least get back to the hallways where the Colonel’s office was located. They were quieter and he could stay out of the way better there. He was lost, and he didn’t know what to do about it.

“Alphonse?”

His head turned towards the voice, and with relief he saw Lieutenant Hawkeye coming down the hallway. “Lieutenant!”

She had a friendly look on her face as she walked towards him. It wasn’t what he’d call a smile, but he was coming to learn that she did smile, it was just more subdued then most people’s smiles most of the time. Still, smile or not, he was more than glad to see her.

“What are you doing out here?” she asked him.

“Oh! Well, um, the Colonel said that he had something to discuss with Brother, and then he said that I had to leave. But I didn’t know where to go and I tried to get back outside, but I got a little lost.”

She was nodding understandably, and Alphonse felt a bit of relief.

“Don’t worry about it,” she said. “It’s easy to get lost here, especially when you’re new.” She paused, thinking. “Tell you what. I could use a hand. I have some boxes to move. Do you think you could help me with them? It will mean less trips, especially since all of the dollies are in use.”

“Oh! Sure! I can do that!” He didn’t mind helping her out; it gave him something to do. Besides, the Lieutenant had always been nice to them. Maybe he could pay her back a bit by helping her.

“Good,” she said, with one of those light smiles again. “Follow me.”

Alphonse did, feeling much less out of place as he walked with the Lieutenant. She talked to him as they walked, pointing out different departments and rooms before they got to the storage room that contained the boxes she needed to move. They were old reports that needed to be sent to Central to the records department, and the boxes were heavy. She had four she needed to move, and Al insisted on taking three of them, leaving her with one. That was one perk of his body. He was really strong, and he could help people with his strength. It didn’t take them long to make it to the loading docks where he dawdled around while Hawkeye filled out some paperwork. He watched the workers loading and unloading things, looking at how hard they worked. It was like a busy hive of activity, all well planned out and hard working.

“This all, Lieutenant?” one of the workers called out.

“It is for now,” she said. “We shouldn’t have another shipment from the Colonel for a few months, at least.”

“You sure got them down here faster than expected.”

The Lieutenant smiled, and patted Alphonse on the arm. “I had good help. This is Alphonse Elric. He’s the younger brother of our newest State Alchemist, Edward Elric. The Major is in meetings with the Colonel, and so Alphonse lent me a hand.”

“Oh, um, it was nothing Lieutenant, really!” he said, trying to shake off her praise. It really wasn’t a big deal. “I didn’t mind helping! I really didn’t!”

“Boy, we could use someone big and strong like you around here,” one of the men commented. “You’d be a big help.”

Alphonse sputtered a little, trying to figure out how to respond. Hawkeye saved him, though.

“Why don’t you stay, Al, and give them a hand? I’m sure that they’ll take good care of you. I’ll make sure your brother knows where you are,” she said.

“Are you sure it’ll be okay?” he asked.

“I’m positive.”

“Well… alright then.”

One of the men grinned at him. “Well alright then! You can help us with unloading that truck first, okay? We’ll keep you busy until your brother comes for you!”

“I’ll see you later, Al,” Hawkeye said. “I’ll come back by to check on you later.”

“Alright, Lieutenant Hawkeye! I’ll see you later!”

Alphonse turned back to the man who was gesturing for him to follow him, and listened to his instructions, getting to work. It didn’t occur to him until much later that while he was helping he felt much less lost in the giant machine that was the military.

~*~

“Alphonse!”

Al looked up at the voice, taking his attention off of the battle that was happening at the moment between his brother, the Colonel, and an alchemist he didn’t know. The Lieutenant was moving towards him quickly, her gun out and ready. She glanced around the area as she moved, keeping an eye out for any other enemies.

“Lieutenant?” he said as she quickly moved into place beside him.

“I’m glad I found you.” She said, her eyes looking him over. She grimaced. “I see he got to you, didn’t he?”

Alphonse looked down at himself, at his crumbling armor. It wasn’t the worst it had ever been, but it was bad, and it had taken him out of the equation for the time being. He wasn’t even sure what had happened, honestly. He had been out buying some food for Edward while his brother gave a report to the Colonel. He honestly hadn’t wanted to be there for that one. He knew it was just going to end up in a shouting match, and sometimes he got tired of being his brother’s voice of reason. So he found a reason, and he left.

But while he had been there, this man had attacked the market place he was at, wrecking it. It didn’t take Al long to figure out that the man was an alchemist and, as a fellow alchemist, he felt a duty to stop him. Unfortunately, it seemed that this was the worst alchemist that Alphonse could have gone up against—he had a specialized knowledge in metals. Alphonse had avoided his attacks as best he could, but small touches here and there had gotten to him, doing small bits of damage to his body until he finally had felt it crumbling. Of course that’s when the Colonel and his brother had shown up and taken over.

“Shouldn’t you be looking after the Colonel?” he questioned, his voice with a slight edge of panic to it.

The Lieutenant glanced at the fight. “Honestly, with this man’s skill set, I’m more worried about you. He manipulates metal. You are metal. And two of your brother’s limbs are metal. I think the Colonel is in the least danger. Its why I went looking for you first.”

“Well, I suppose you found me, Lieutenant,” he said, a bit of disappointed frustration in his voice.

“Yes, I did—and I’m grateful for it.” She moved her eyes off of the battle and back to Alphonse. “I’ll always do my best to find you boys when you’re in danger.”

Something about that warmed his heart, although he wasn’t sure exactly what it was. But there was something nice about someone wanting to find him and help him, even if he was much stronger and sturdier then most people.

Hawkeye was looking around, seeing part of his leg nearby. “If I get that, do you think you can repair yourself enough to walk?” she asked him.

Alphonse shook his head. “No. Only Brother can do that. The best I could do would be to make a crutch or something to walk on. Besides, I’m not sure what that man did, exactly, but I know that there are parts of my armor that are really fragile right now.”

The Lieutenant leaned closer to take a look. “Looks almost like it’s a different composition there,” she said, frowning. “Did he change the type of metal to something more fragile?”

Alphonse blinked at her, a little surprised that she could tell that. “I’m not sure—but I know that if that’s the case, it’s not hard to guess what kind of metal my armor is made out of. So if he knew that, he might be able to. Brother has done it to Greed before. He’s altered the carbon bonds to make it a weaker form of carbon.”

“Clever,” Hawkeye said. “Well, if that’s the case, then I suppose it’s a good thing I found you, isn’t it?” It was clear to see that her mind was spinning. “That might be the key. Stay here.”

Before he could say anything else, she was running into the battle, yelling. “Colonel! Edward! He’s changing metal compositions!” She had to hit the deck as the alchemist sent pieces of metal flying towards her.

“Retreat, Lieutenant!” Mustang ordered, and Hawkeye didn’t waste any time in complying, going back to Alphonse’s side.

“Lieutenant, are you alright?” Alphonse asked her, worried as he saw a cut on her cheek.

“I’m fine—I’m just glad I found you, Al. That was a crucial bit of information.” She watched as Edward and the Colonel worked together to trap the man and take him down. She looked back at him with a tight smile as the situation was handled. “I was worried about you—especially when we found out his specialty was metal.”

“You shouldn’t worry about me,” he said. “I’m sure I would have been fine. Brother would have showed up.”

Riza smiled at him, and put a hand on his shoulder. “Alphonse, I’ll always worry about you. If I hadn’t of found you so quickly, I would have worried until we had. I looked for you first.”

There wasn’t time for more as Edward came running over, worry clear in every bit of him. Hawkeye retreated then, heading towards the Colonel. Alphonse watched her go, his heart warming at the thought that she would have been looking for him until he had been found.

~*~

“Alphonse!”

Al looked up from where he was standing on the platform at Central, hearing the voices of his brother, Winry, Mei, and the gaggle of children disembarking behind him. His eyes looked around for a moment, until they landed on a familiar blond head.

“Lieuten—Sorry, habit. I mean--oh, wait, are you a Colonel now?”

Riza smiled at him, a broad smile, bigger than usual, showing just how pleased she was to see him. “Yes, just a few weeks ago,” she said, reaching out towards him. He responded, letting her fold him into a hug, even if he was taller than her again. She pulled back. “How have you been? It’s been quite some time since we’ve seen you. You look healthy.”

He smiled at her. “I am. Mei looks after me all the time. She makes sure I’m eating well, and that I stay in shape. Honestly, I don’t mind. It feels good to be able to have that to worry about.”

“I’m sure,” she said, glancing back behind him. “Looks like you’re traveling with a full compliment.”

Alphonse laughed. “Yes, I thought that we were going to need the whole train car at one point. Ed’s bunch are rambunctious and mine are sneaky.”

She grinned widely again. “I wouldn’t expect anything less,” she said. She gave his hand a squeeze, then moved to help the rest of them get off of the train and out of the station. She had a car waiting and, although it took a little squishing and maneuvering, they all managed to fit inside, Alphonse sitting up front with a nephew on his lap.

“So why did you call us back?” he asked her. “An invite to the whole Elric family? It must mean something big.”

“Has that jerk finally decided to retire,” Edward quipped. “If he does, I’m not paying him back the money I owe him.”

“You owe him money, Ed?” Winry cut in. “When did this happen? Have you been borrowing money without telling me?”

“No! No, it’s nothing like that!” Ed protested. “It’s—well—it’s more of a loan?”

“He’ll tell you when we get there,” Riza said. “You should also know that the rest of the team is coming in tomorrow too.”

“The rest of them?” Edward asked, the fight between him and Winry temporarily paused.

“Yes,” Riza said. “But we wanted to talk to you first.”

That seemed to settle the car into a sense of contemplation again, and Al eyed Riza suspiciously. The rest of the car ride was pretty calm, the adults pointing things out to the excited children as Riza drove them to the rather impressive house that she and the General lived in now. They all got out, each of them taking some luggage to help carry in. Mustang came out to greet them, taking the luggage from Riza’s hand as he escorted them inside, only half arguing with Edward as they all piled inside. Rooms were settled, kids were sent off with one of the guards, and the adults settled into a tastefully decorated room.

“So what’s this all about?” Edward asked, point blank. Alphonse exchanged a look with Mei. He could tell that they were thinking along the same lines.

Mustang—Roy—reached for Riza’s hand. The two had been wed, finally, some years back during a period of time when they had been forced to work separately. They had, of course, ended up working together again, on a project that it was agreed both of them were needed for, and an exception was granted. It had just stuck, and their marriage hadn’t seemed to interfere with their work, so the powers that be had just been satisfied to let them stay that way.

“Well, we have some news,” he said. “Riza and I… we’re expecting.”

Winry and Mei squealed, Mei proclaiming “I knew it!” while Ed and Al offered their congratulations.

“Wait,” Riza said. “There’s more.” She waited for them to fall silent. “We talked it over, and we’d like it very much if you—all of you—would agree to be the godparents of our child.”

Once again, looks were exchanged, and Alphonse smiled at the couple as he answered for all of them. “Of course. We’d be honored to.”

Bot Roy and Riza seemed to be relieved at that, and the congratulations and questions started up again for a bit until the conversation turned to the other reason they had been called here—Mustang was about to announce his intentions for the Fuhrership. As Edward and Roy got to fussing, Alphonse couldn’t help but notice Riza slip off. With a look at his wife, he headed out after her, finding her on a small balcony that overlooked the backyard where the kids were playing.

“You alright?” he asked her.

She turned to look at him. “Yes. Just… just a lot on my mind.”

“I’m sure,” he said. “It’s exciting, you know? Pregnancy. And being a godparent. It’s nice to be family.”

She smiled at him, reaching for his hand and squeezing it. “You were always family, Alphonse.”

Family. The word warmed his heart. He had considered them all family for years, but hearing it said aloud made him more than a little happy.

“I just don’t know if I’ll be a good mother.”

“Of course you will,” the words were out of his mouth without hesitation.

She turned towards him, blinking at him in surprise. “You think so?” she said. “What makes you think that?”

He smiled softly at her, and put an arm around her shoulder. “Because you were a great mom to me and Ed.” She looked at him in astonishment, and he continued. “We were just kids when we got involved with the military, you know. We didn’t know what we were doing. And it was especially easy for me to feel alone and lost. But you never let us feel that way. You helped us adjust to our new life, showed us how to function in it. You always came and found us when we were in trouble or hurt. We never said it, but we came to rely on you a lot. And while Mom will always be our mom, you were like another mother to us.”

Riza was quiet for a moment, then let out sigh and leaned her head on his shoulder. “Thank you, Alphonse,” she said. “I always did feel protective over you—like you were my kids I needed to protect. I’m glad that it was a mutual feeling.”

“Always,” he said with a smile. “We’ll always be family.”


	7. Unconditional/Rules/Because I Said So

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some mothers are natural made. Other mothers are created through circumstance. But all care for their children. A series of one shots based around the theme of motherhood. Featuring stories involving: Riza Hawkeye, Gracia Hughes, Riza's Mother, and Havoc's mother. Also involving: Edward Elric, Alphonse Elric, Jean Havoc, Roy Mustang, fanchildren and other minor mentions.

**Moms Made Fullmetal Week, 2019**  
**Day 7:** Unconditional/Rules/Because I Said So  
**Summary:** Rules and conditions. These are things that the Elric brothers sometimes have trouble with, feeling them either restrictive to or an asset to their mission. Riza, however, views them differently. She can only hope that in time they’ll learn to listen to them a bit better.

* * *

“No.” Mustang’s voice was sharp as he spoke.

“What?”

“Why not!”

Edward and Alphonse’s voices rang out at the same time, both questioning what Mustang had said, and both seemingly upset at this answer.

Riza stood where she was, watching as this confrontation went down. It was going exactly how they had been afraid that it would. They expected this sort of reaction from Edward just about any time, but this time Alphonse was upset as well, which wasn’t nearly as normal.

Mustang did not waver, though. “When you accepted this assignment, Fullmetal, it was on the unconditional terms that you would follow ever order given.” His attention turned to Alphonse. “And you were allowed to participate under the same rules, Alphonse.”

“But this is an exception!” Edward insisted, pounding the point home by hitting the desk.

Mustang remained unmoved. “Unconditional means that there are not conditions—or exceptions. Can you understand that, Edward, Alphonse?”

“But that’s not fair!” Edward said, clearly angry.

“Please, Colonel, it could be a lead!” Alphonse was trying to bargain still.

Mustang stood up, planting his hands firmly on his desk. “I’ve made my decision and it’s final. There is no more arguing.” It was clear he was done with the subject, and that there was no swaying his mind.

Ed turned, red-faced and angry, and stomped out of the office, Alphonse following after. The door slammed shut behind both of them, and Riza sighed inaudibly from where she sat at her desk. Of course the boys wouldn’t take it well. They never did when they were told no, and especially not when they felt like they hadn’t been heard or considered. Riza knew better, but the boys couldn’t accept that, and didn’t have the trust in Mustang yet to accept his word at face value. . They hated it, even if the Colonel had good, if unknown, reasons.

She had given it a few moments, to see if Alphonse would open the door and apologize for Edward, as he did a good portion of the time. But it seemed that Alphonse was mad this time too. Riza sighed and walked over to Mustang’s desk with some papers for him to sign. He was clearly frustrated, as she angrily rearranged his desk.

“I wish they’d understand.” He said, his face clearly troubled. Riza could read between the lines of what he was saying, though. _“I’m trying to protect them.”_

“I know,” she replied, knowing that he would hear her unspoken words as well. _“I know you’re trying to.”_

“It’s so frustrating!” he said. “I’m only doing what’s best for them, same as I would any other of my men.” _“I care about them and I want to protect them.”_

“I know, sir. Unfortunately, you know as well as I do that they will not listen and explaining it will only give them more information.” She said. _“I know you do. I do too. But they’re teenagers, and its our job to keep them from danger.”_

“Yes, there is that, problem.” He said. _“I know. They’d get themselves in trouble by being too involved.”_

“In time I’m sure they’ll understand.” She said. _“You were stubborn too. You learned. Give it time.”_

“Hm. Perhaps you’re right.” He replied. _“…You have a point.”_

“They have to, sir. In this life somethings are unconditional.” Her voice was firm. “_They’ll learn that we love them no matter what and are just trying to protect them.”_

“True enough, Lieutenant.” He said, reaching for the papers in her hands. _“We’ll just have to be patient.”_

~*~

“I’m sorry, Ed, but that’s against regulations.” Riza said.

He looked at her, surprised, and then a little defiant. “So what?” he asked.

“So we can’t do it.” She replied to him, as if it were the most obvious thing.

Ed scowled, clearly not happy with her answer. “But we break regulations all the time!” he protested.

“We bend them,” she clarified, “and only then with good reason and good planning.”

“Ugh!” Ed threw himself into a chair. “All we want to do is turn that closet into a study room! Who cares about the size of it! It’s a stupid rule.”

Riza sighed. She understood what he was saying, she really did. But it didn’t make a difference. The regulations were there, and that’s all there was to it. “The rules are in place for a reason, Ed,” she said calmly. “It doesn’t matter if we like them or not, they’re there for a reason. The regulations say that the closet is too small to turn into a study room, then it’s too small. We have to abide by that.”

“But aren’t there rules you’d like to break, Lieutenant?” Alphonese asked her, obviously neither brother was ready to let this go.

One rule in particular jumped to her mind. She would love to change that for her own, personal reasons. But she understood how that could destabilize the whole of the military. “Of course,” she replied smoothly. “But just beacause they aren’t what I want doesn’t mean that they aren’t for good reason.

Ed humphed. Riza tried again.

“Do you have any personal rules you live by?” she asked both of them. “Ones that you hold in high regard.

“Of course.” They replied, almost immediately.

“And are these rules always what you want or are convenient for you?” she asked, knowing that they would see this point coming a mile away.

They exchanged looks. “Well, no.”

“Would breaking them do anything good for you?” she pushed then.

“No,” they admitted, although it was clear that neither of them wanted to.

“Then it’s the same.” She said. “Regardless of how the rule affects you personally, or if you understand why it’s in place, it’s there for a reason.”

The boys clearly weren’t happy, but they fell silent anyway. The silence stretched on, Riza working on more paperwork, and the boys clearly thinking things over.

“Lieutenant?”’ Al asked, hesitantly, quietly.

“Yes?” she responded, not looking up.

“Do you have any rules you live by?” He seemed genuinely curious about her rules, and she looked up at his tone.

“Of course.” She replied without hesitation.

“Are they always easy?” Ed got in on the conversation, seemingly curious as well.

She put down her pen, turning to face them better. “Of course not,” she said. “Some are very difficult. But some are very easy. But I have them for a reason.”

The boys exchanged looks. “What’s one of them?” Alphonse asked.

“You mean the easy ones? Care for my teammates, no matter what.” She answered. “Always look out for them.”

“Oh.”

They fell silent again.

“Do you have ones that are easy and hard?” Edward asked her after a moment.

Riza thought for a moment. “Yes,” she said. “Although the base of it is always steady and true, sometimes the application can be hard.”

“What is it?” Edward asked.

She smiled up at them. “To care for the two of you no matter what—even if you drive me crazy at times.” There was a slight teasing tone to her voice, and a surprisingly gentle smile on her face.

“Oh.”

The boys looked at each other, then fell silent again, clearly contemplating this.

~*~

“Fall back!”

Riza yelled it out at the two boys, who were right in the middle of the action that was happening now. She saw Ed’s mouth opening, and she cut him off.

She didn’t have time for this. She didn’t have time to explain. It was now or never time.

She didn’t give him time to argue. “Because I said so!” she snapped out, and the boys fell back, running towards her and her defensible position. It gave their enemies—a violent anarchy group—time to surge forward, but not for long. There was a snap, and Riza was pushing both boys’ heads down, getting them out of the way as Mustang applied his flame alchemy to end this group’s violent behavior.

She felt Edward try to look up, and she pushed his head down again. “Keep your heads down!” she said.

“But—“

“Please, Ed,” Riza said. “Just do as I say.”

He opened his mouth, then closed it again, complying with her instructions. It wasn’t until she got the all clear that she let them up to see the burned ruins Mustang had left in his wake, although he had only lightly burned the anarchists himself.

“Woah…” Ed said, his eyes wide.

Riza forgot that he had never seen the scorched earth that could be left behind by Mustang’s flames.

“No wonder he could kill Lust,” Al said, looking around in surprise.

Riza shook her head. “Come on. We’ve got work to do.”

They followed behind her, clearly, to her at least, shocked, even as they started making sure that people had the first aide they needed and cleaning up the area.

When they paused to take a break, Riza looked at them. “You know, boys, I’m really proud of you.”

They exchanged looks. “For what?” Edward asked.

“For falling back when I said to. I’m proud of you for following my directions.” She clarified.

Edward grinned. “Of course we were going to do it,” he said. “I thought it was obvious.”

She looked at the brothers curiously. “What do you mean?”

“We trust you, Lieutenant,” Alphonse said.

“Yeah,” Edward agreed. “And that means that if you tell us to do something, we’ll do it just because you said so.”

The boys got back to work repairing the damage, and Riza looked at them in shock, her lips finally curing up in a smile. It had taken some time, but she was glad that she had finally earned their trust in her.


End file.
